Downtown condo vs suburb house

[schurchill39]

Originally posted by flipstah


I would take this advice to heart. I used to work in QP for Jacobs and just getting out towards Glenmore then Deerfoot was a pain.

THEN Deerfoot itself during rush hour.

Yea, I can see getting into QP in we lived downtown sucking ass but getting out of downtown in the morning wouldn't be bad. However if we live in Quarry Park she could walk to work and I would just need to get to a C-train or bus station.

Originally posted by chibwack
If you're in town go for a drive into downtown around 7am tomorrow, and then back out around 4... you'll realize pretty quickly that you don't want to do that every day. And don't think its limited to after 4pm or whatever, I've gotten on 5th ave to memorial and just getting to the exit took about 45 minutes......at 2pm (on a friday mind you)

I am well aware of the traffic headed into and out of downtown. It sucks. Hard. However I don't have a parking spot downtown so I wouldn't be driving, I'd take the sardine can. Thats why I suggested maybe a condo down there because I could walk to work and she wouldn't have that big of a hassle leaving the core.

Originally posted by ercchry


location cant be changed, the building can. buy a house you can be happy with for x number of years, then rip it out and build what you want... maybe even a duplex, which would give you your rental property... or just a nice chunk of money when sold

Valid point. Something to consider I suppose.

[Ven]

I think back on the many long distance commutes and cringe. I got paid for 8 hours but ended up working 10 or 11 depending on weather and accidents. When you're commuting to and from work it's still work, but no pay. You're burning life and money. Live close to your work, always. And fuck transit, that will drive you insane.

[Type_S1]

This question is really asking about 2 different lifestyles.

I think the only positive to a condo in calgary is the location. Quick commute to work would be nice. Everything else, in my opinion, blows. Buying a condo today is a sketchy investment to begin with, condo fees in the nicer buildings are fking ridiculous ($500+), 1 parking stall is super shitty, "special assessments", the potential for terrible neighbours, small living space compared to a house...I could go on.

To me the bad far outweighed the good and I honestly don't mind a 30 minute transit ride to work. Some people might hate it, i did too before i gave it a chance, but it honestly isn't that bad. To touch on the other points...you get double to space in a house for the same price as a condo, definitely a heated garage in that price range, you get a nice backyard for the summer, you don't have to worry about neighbours as much, you get a nice big kitchen if you like to cook, a nice big living room to have the boys over for a poker night or to watch the game, can throw parties without pissing everyone off...and lots more.

It really is a lifestyle choice though. The only way I would move downtown now is if for some reason I wanted to start going out and drinking 3+ times a week.

[dj_patm]

Originally posted by Type_S1
This question is really asking about 2 different lifestyles.

I think the only positive to a condo in calgary is the location. Quick commute to work would be nice. Everything else, in my opinion, blows. Buying a condo today is a sketchy investment to begin with, condo fees in the nicer buildings are fking ridiculous ($500+), 1 parking stall is super shitty, "special assessments", the potential for terrible neighbours, small living space compared to a house...I could go on.

To me the bad far outweighed the good and I honestly don't mind a 30 minute transit ride to work. Some people might hate it, i did too before i gave it a chance, but it honestly isn't that bad. To touch on the other points...you get double to space in a house for the same price as a condo, definitely a heated garage in that price range, you get a nice backyard for the summer, you don't have to worry about neighbours as much, you get a nice big kitchen if you like to cook, a nice big living room to have the boys over for a poker night or to watch the game, can throw parties without pissing everyone off...and lots more.

It really is a lifestyle choice though. The only way I would move downtown now is if for some reason I wanted to start going out and drinking 3+ times a week.

x2

The benefits of a house greatly outweigh the crappy commute.

For a condo:

One, you have to work in your condo fees when considering your price range, which can be quite a bit. $300-$500 a month goes a long way.

Two, all it takes is one crappy neighbour in one of your four shared walls/below/above and your life is an instant nightmare. A crappy neighbour is a lot less annoying when you don't share a wall with them. Also, if you like having friends over and being social, you start to become the crappy neighbour for others and have to put up with more problems.

Three, unless you're on the first floor, groceries and the like are annoying as hell.

Four, it's small. A lot smaller then house. You said your an outdoors guy, well where are you going to put your bike, ski's, hockey sticks.... etc? Especially if you can only find a one bedroom.

So yeah, I'll gladly sacrafice a 30-60 minute commute to avoid all of the above. No questions asked.

[R-Audi]

Depending on your budget you should be able to find a townhouse inner city as opposed to downtown and basically have the best of both. Shorter commute DT via bus/bike etc, more room and a decent downtown type lifestyle. A trailer will be tough... but its tough to have it all.

[ercchry]

fyi, inglewood to quarry park takes under 15min (well, to the exit on deerfoot) in the morning

the exit at night looks terrible. but im sure you could just cut over to barlow

[msommers]

As crazy as this might sound, why not rent 6 months in one and 6 months in another. By that I mean, find a condo downtown and try that, then find a house down south and try that.

Seems so much easier to me than committing to one without knowing what the other is like.

[schocker]

Originally posted by msommers
As crazy as this might sound, why not rent 6 months in one and 6 months in another. By that I mean, find a condo downtown and try that, then find a house down south and try that.

Seems so much easier to me than committing to one without knowing what the other is like.

That sounds like the best idea. Lets you weigh the two options. I have always some what liked the idea of living closer to work, but I live farrrr north, commute downtown is <25 mins to my office when I drive though. I like the quiet, the garage, lots of space for the same money, no condo fees and back yard.

[bspot]

I've done both. Much, much prefer a smaller house with giant garage a 10 minute walk from downtown compared to my suburb experience.

I started catching myself saying no to going for beers with friends or other fun things because I didn't feel like driving 20 minutes to get everywhere.

[mo_money2supe]

Surprised I haven't come upon this thread earlier...

I live in Quarry Park in a single-detached home; have been there since phase 1 of residential (Ph. 3 of the actual QP development) just shy of three years ago now. Both my wife and I work downtown and honestly, the commute in & out really isn't that bad. I'm here at the office between 7:30-8:00am every morning, and on the no-gym-days, I leave at 5:00pm. Takes me on average 20-25 mins to drive to DT, IN rush-hour traffic. Also, what most people haven't considered, there's a BRT bus that stops right in QP - the 302. It takes about 30-40 mins from QP right into the heart of downtown, again, all during rush-hour traffic. I've never not had a spot to sit down when commuting by bus.

As for your price range OP, there are plenty of condo options that fit your budget in QP. You can even get into the townhouses that have either a single or double attached/detached garage to house all your toys. There are also apartment condos if you want to reduce your price range; those too include an underground parkade. If you do move to QP and have an extra parking stall, I currently have 3 vehicles and wouldn't mind renting the extra storage from you.

As for the concerns of all the companies moving into QP, what does that haven't anything to do with the OP anyway? His gf will be walking to work, and the OP will be driving against the incoming traffic. If anything, the only thing that affects the OP's purchasing decision is all these companies will only increase the property values in the future.

Now, all of my opinions are obviously biased. But I think the OP can use a new perspective from someone who lives in the area. schurchill39, feel free to PM me if you have any more questions, or ask the question(s) here for all to see.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Try out the commute once, especially in the winter, from Auburn Bay/Cranston and your mind might be made up right away when you imagine that trip 10 times a week.

Most of my friends who bought in the deep South are regretting it big time. Their homes are nice but the amount of time spent commuting is retarded IMHO. Not uncommon for 2 hours each way in the winter (transit), and if you use transit you have no choice but to do a bus/train combo or drive to a lot. They leave at 5:30am or so and get home around 7pm. Starts to chip away at you after a while.

I grew up in the South (Woodbine), moved downtown ASAP, and it has been the highest quality of life booster I've ever experienced thus far, period. I get an extra 1.5-2hr of sleep every day and I'm home before 5pm.

[dj_patm]

FYI, I have about a 5-10 minute walk to the Somerset station (end of line) and a 5 minute walk to my work from the station downtown and I usually leave my house at 7:20ish and get to work between 8-8:10. I can't stand Calgary Transit but people like to be a little over dramatic with how long the commute on the train is. Once they get 4 cars going and add a few more trains it should improve a lot.

As for driving, if you can shift your hours a bit to avoid rush hour you're golden. When I drive to work I leave at 6:10 and get to work at 6:45 and then leave work at 3:45 and get home by 4:30.

I'll take that commute over living in a condo any day of the week. Plus, you have to remember that unless you get a condo in the middle of the core, there is a good chance that you'll have a 20 minute walk to and from work regardless.

The only thing is, the communities you suggested aren't near the c-train (yet) so I'd try to maybe find something closer to the line. If you want 90's then you could look around Fish Creek, Shawnessy and Somerset in the south. The commute from those areas to Quarry Park shouldn't be all that bad either.

[JustinMCS]

Originally posted by ercchry


location cant be changed, the building can

Best advice ever. Land value is higher closer to downtown also.

[NickGT]

Originally posted by bspot
I've done both. Much, much prefer a smaller house with giant garage a 10 minute walk from downtown compared to my suburb experience.

I started catching myself saying no to going for beers with friends or other fun things because I didn't feel like driving 20 minutes to get everywhere.

Last year I left my 2300sqft auburn bay house behind in favor of a 1200sqft house in Lakeview. Both homes were 3bdrm, 2 living spaces, 3 bathrooms. Downsizing though was the best decision I ever made.

What I lost in useless square footage in my old house I gained with a massive garage, lots of street parking, big trees, short commutes to basically anywhere, and WAY less time house cleaning. Now I'm also <20minutes away from any of my friends. Again, best decision EVER.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by NickGT


Last year I left my 2300sqft auburn bay house behind in favor of a 1200sqft house in Lakeview. Both homes were 3bdrm, 2 living spaces, 3 bathrooms. Downsizing though was the best decision I ever made.

What I lost in useless square footage in my old house I gained with a massive garage, lots of street parking, big trees, short commutes to basically anywhere, and WAY less time house cleaning. Now I'm also &lt;20minutes away from any of my friends. Again, best decision EVER.

im down 1 bedroom and 2 bathrooms though, but everything is just so much nicer

comparing inner city to when we were in the deep se is probably more suiting for this thread though... so

cab into the core? $10, before $50+
time to get to work? me 30min, woman 10min before me 25min, woman 45min+

number of entrances off a major roadway vs amount of people in area? 3400 people, 7 ways in, before 30k people, 2 (4 if you count 52nd)

and just way less big box, franchise BS garbage. but if i want to hit up costco i think its quicker now

green space? 10x more now, easy

off leash areas for the dog? walking distance and two of them, before uhh, like 15min car ride? dunno never bothered

and the feeling of community is so much greater, i have a rink right down the road and a community garden. the area has a much smaller town feel to it.

[rage2]

It seems like everybody's biggest suburb complaint is commute time, but it seems like everyone is reference the deep south. Maybe that has to do with your options for suburbs, which has 3 deep south communites that are terrible for getting into downtown during rush hour. There are suburbs in the west, NW, and SW that's only slightly worse than inner city commutes.

Regardless of where you live in this city, if you have to drive through or into downtown, you will hit traffic. If you hate rush hour driving, live beside a train station and buy a bus pass.

As for condo vs house, I was seriously contemplating selling my house of 10 years and moving into a nice condo downtown before I met my gf. What kept me from it was mainly having a dog, which is a PITA. I'm lazy, letting her out in the back yard to do her shit was just too easy. Other than that, for the bachelor lifestyle, downtown rocks. I hated the upkeep of the house, and ended up hiring people to do absolutely everything. Clean, shovel snow, cut grass, even pick up dog shit in the backyard.

Now that my gf has moved in, there's no way we would do a condo. Just not family friendly. She's an inner city gal (lived in Bridgeland and Renfrew), and misses how close it was to downtown (but she's warming up to Arbour Lake). I love my open roads out here, and access to the lake. Our next home will either be a Lakefront property here, our outer innercity where I can still have access to some nice driving roads. My biggest gripe with inner city is that it's all 50km/h zones with the slowest drivers ever on single lane roads. Total waste of a nice car for day to day driving.

[chibwack]

All these years and I never once thought about having to go all the way downstairs to let the dog poop... that could actually completely change my real estate goals lol

[NickGT]

Originally posted by ercchry




im down 1 bedroom and 2 bathrooms though, but everything is just so much nicer

comparing inner city to when we were in the deep se is probably more suiting for this thread though... so

cab into the core? $10, before $50+
time to get to work? me 30min, woman 10min before me 25min, woman 45min+

number of entrances off a major roadway vs amount of people in area? 3400 people, 7 ways in, before 30k people, 2 (4 if you count 52nd)

and just way less big box, franchise BS garbage. but if i want to hit up costco i think its quicker now

green space? 10x more now, easy

off leash areas for the dog? walking distance and two of them, before uhh, like 15min car ride? dunno never bothered

and the feeling of community is so much greater, i have a rink right down the road and a community garden. the area has a much smaller town feel to it.

You got it man.

Also no community fee's is a pretty awesome perk in older areas as well. As much as I enjoyed skating, fishing and floating on the lake in Auburn. I'd rather use that 400-500/yr to go camping, towards a vacation, or whatever else in the summer. I don't feel like I'm missing much without it that's for sure. Especially with North Glenmore park so close (FREE) and an outdoor rink 2 blocks away.

To each their own though obviously. There as so many pro's/con's to houses vs. condos and inner city vs. deep suburbs. Finding whatever fits the lifestyle you live is the trick. It's definitely not easy.

[rage2]

Originally posted by chibwack
All these years and I never once thought about having to go all the way downstairs to let the dog poop... that could actually completely change my real estate goals lol

Some people train their dogs to piss and crap inside lol!

Originally posted by NickGT
Also no community fee's is a pretty awesome perk in older areas as well. As much as I enjoyed skating, fishing and floating on the lake in Auburn. I'd rather use that 400-500/yr to go camping, towards a vacation, or whatever else in the summer. I don't feel like I'm missing much without it that's for sure. Especially with North Glenmore park so close (FREE) and an outdoor rink 2 blocks away.

I thought only lake communities have fees? And 400-500 for Auburn? That's nuts. I pay $100 a year at Arbour Lake, and they're profiting. Where does all that money go in Auburn?

[ercchry]

Originally posted by rage2


I thought only lake communities have fees? And 400-500 for Auburn? That's nuts. I pay $100 a year at Arbour Lake, and they're profiting. Where does all that money go in Auburn?

new brighton was $300. all we got out of it was blvds full of dandelions and a community centre i never used